Treasury

Property: Ownership

Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts: To ask His Majesty's Government how many requests were made to HMRC for details of property ownership under the (1) "offshore company", or (2) "legitimate interest", provision in each of the past two years; and how many were accepted.

Baroness Penn: The Trust Registration Service (TRS) is a register of beneficial ownership of trusts held by HMRC, rather than property ownership. Third parties have been able to request access to information held on the TRS since 1 September 2022.

Disadvantaged: Finance

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they plan to introduce to financially support vulnerable and marginalised members of our communities in the UK.

Baroness Penn: The Government has taken steps to protect the most vulnerable in society. At Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced Cost of Living Payments in 2023-24, including up to £900 for households on means-tested benefits, £300 for pensioner households and £150 for individuals on disability benefits. In April 2023, working-age and disability benefits rose in line with September 2022 Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation – 10.1%. As a result, more than 10 million working age families will have seen their benefit payments rise by an average increase of around £600 a year for those on Universal Credit. This year (2023/24), the Government has also increased the State Pension by 10.1 per cent, in line with inflation and the Triple Lock. This delivered the biggest ever cash increase in the State Pension. The Government is working hard to ensure that all families with children have access to the resources and assistance they need to thrive. The Government is introducing 30 hours of free childcare per week for working parents with children aged 9 months up to 3 years in England, alongside a substantial uplift to the hourly rate paid to providers.

Social Security Benefits: Finance

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to financially invest additional resources for welfare benefits and social security measures.

Baroness Penn: The Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions is legally required to review the rates of state pension and benefits each year. At the heart of the DWP's approach is the belief in people's autonomy to decide how to allocate their benefits based on their individual circumstances and needs. In April 2023, millions of people’s benefits rose by 10.1%, in line with the September 2022 inflation rate – including Universal Credit. This is alongside Cost of Living payments totalling £900 to be paid to households on means tested benefits during 2023-24, in addition to a Cost of Living payment of £300 to pensioner households during winter 2023 and a Cost of Living payment of £150 to people on disability benefits during summer 2023. These actions will ensure that those most vulnerable in society get the support they need, including those in work as well as out of work.

Public Sector: Finance

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to financially invest in public services.

Baroness Penn: The government regularly assesses the level of investment needed in public services.Spending Review 2021 set the government’s spending plans for the rest of this Parliament (up to 2024-25). Since then, targeted additional funding has been provided for key public services. This includes access to funding of £14.1 billion over the next two years to support the NHS and adult social care; and an additional £5.2 billion over the next two years for schools.

Public Expenditure: Scotland

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps, if any, they intend to take to review whetherany money allocated to the Scottish Government for a particular purpose has been spent on a different area without agreement withHis Majesty'sGovernment.

Baroness Penn: The Treasury are in regular contact with each of the devolved administrations to discuss the funding arrangements set out in the Statement of Funding Policy. It is for the Scottish Government to decide how to spend their Barnett-based block grant in areas of devolved responsibility. However, ringfenced funding provided by the UK Government can only be spent for the purposes it was given and any underspends must be returned to HM Treasury. The devolved administrations provide regular updates to HM Treasury on their spending through existing reporting channels. This includes spending against ringfenced funding.

Transport: Private Finance Initiative

Lord Jackson of Peterborough: To ask His Majesty's Government why the ban on private finance initiative schemes in 2019 extends to transport infrastructure projects.

Baroness Penn: In 2018, the government retired the private finance initiative (PFI) and PF2 models for all new infrastructure projects, including in the transport sector, due to their fiscal risk, inflexibility and complexity. However, the government continues to remain committed to supporting private investment in infrastructure as set out in the 2020 National Infrastructure Strategy. The UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) was launched in 2021 and is partnering with the private sector and local governments to support over £40 billion investment, including in transport, to help tackle climate change and promote regional and local economic growth across the UK. With £22bn financial capacity, the Bank has already announced 20 deals, including a £10m loan to support green bus routes in the West Midlands. In addition to the UKIB, a range of revenue support mechanisms are also available for all infrastructure projects.

National Insurance

Baroness Altmann: To ask His Majesty's Government whatproportion of people aged 55 to 66 have a National Insurance record of more than 40 years.

Baroness Altmann: To ask His Majesty's Government whatproportion of people aged 55 to 66 have a National Insurance record of more than 35 years.

Baroness Penn: Information in the form requested is not readily available and could only be obtained/compiled/collated at disproportionate cost.

Public Expenditure

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what are the (1) current, and (2) future, levels of the capital budget allocated to each of the devolved nations.

Baroness Penn: The 2021 Spending Review set the largest annual block grants, in real terms, of any spending review settlement since the devolution Acts. Those settlements are still growing in real terms over the three-year spending review period, despite inflation being higher than expected. The Spending Review 2021 settlement provided £41 billion per year for the Scottish Government (£6 billion of which is capital funding), £18 billion per year for the Welsh Government (£3 billion capital) and £15 billion per year for the Northern Ireland Executive (£2 billion capital). On top of record spending review settlements, the devolved administrations are receiving an additional £4 billion over the next two years through the operation of the Barnett formula (largely from Autumn Statement 2022 and Spring Budget 2023): £1.8 billion for the Scottish Government, £1.4 billion for the Welsh Government and £0.8 billion for the Northern Ireland Executive. £1.8 billion of this has been allocated to their capital budgets (£0.8 billion for the Scottish Government, £0.7 billion for the Welsh Government and £0.3 billion for the Northern Ireland Executive). The devolved administration’s budgets are not set beyond the current spending review period.

Foreign Companies: Registration

Lord Agnew of Oulton: To ask His Majesty's Government how many trusts are registered with the Trusts Registration Service that hold UK land or property either directly or indirectly; and what is the total value of UK land and property assets held.

Baroness Penn: I can only provide a partial answer to this question, as the Trust Registration Service does not record information on indirect holdings of land by trustees. Since May 2021 when the Trust Registration Service was expanded to accept registrations from non-taxable trusts, c.44,000 trusts have notified the Trust Registration Service that the trustees have acquired a direct interest in UK land on or after 6 October 2020. Of this figure, c.43,000 are UK-resident trusts and c.1,000 are non-UK resident trusts. Only taxable trusts, including those that registered before May 2021, are required to provide a statement of assets at the time of registration, including UK land or property. However, analysing this information to arrive at a total number and value of properties held by these trusts would carry a disproportionate cost.

Public Expenditure: Wales

Lord Wigley: To ask His Majesty's Government whether Barnett consequential payments will be made to the Welsh Government arising from additional expenditure in England in the education sector on safeguarding buildings containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

Baroness Penn: As our immediate support is being funded from existing unallocated budgets there will be no additional Barnett consequentials. The devolved administrations have already received funding through the Barnett formula at Spending Review 2021. We are committed to working collaboratively with our devolved administration counterparts on this issue, and the Barnett formula will continue to apply in the usual way to any change in UK Government departmental budgets.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership

Lord Leong: To ask His Majesty's Government whatsteps they are taking to ensure that protections are in place for (1) farmers, and (2) other agriculture producers, as part of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) negotiations.

Lord Benyon: The Government has negotiated a balanced agreement that maintains our high standards, secures access to new and growing markets and includes strong protections for the UK’s farmers and other agricultural producers, particularly in regard to our sensitive sectors. For example, increased access to the UK market for sensitive agricultural produce will be staged over a significant period of time – in most cases over 10 years – allowing our producers to adjust to any new trade flows from CPTPP members. We have also secured permanent annual limits on the amount of beef, pork, chicken, milled rice, and sugar that can be imported tariff-free from the biggest CPTPP producers, offering further protection to UK producers in these sensitive sectors. Additionally, in line with our commitments following the signing of bilateral free trade agreements with both Australia and New Zealand, we have not provided those countries with any further market access on sensitive agricultural products as part of our CPTPP accession. Finally, a general transitional safeguard mechanism on eligible products will provide a temporary safety net for industry if they face serious injury, or threat of serious injury, from increased imports from any CPTPP member as a result of the agreement. The Government is clear that this represents a strong package of protections for our farmers and agricultural producers.

Genetically Modified Organisms: Labelling

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made ofany public demand for labelling all foods containing genetically modified organisms in regulations under the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023.

Lord Benyon: The Government considered a range of evidence, including data from a number of consumer insight studies, in the development of its policy on the labelling of food and feed derived from precision bred organisms. All food containing genetically modified organisms will continue to be labelled as such and information on authorised food and feed derived from precision bred organisms, will be published on a public register.

Department of Health and Social Care

Antidepressants: Prescriptions

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean: To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the adult population are currently being prescribed antidepressants.

Lord Markham: Based on the latest available primary care dispensing data (Q1, 2023/24) we estimate that 15% of the adult population in England is prescribed anti-depressants.We do not capture the clinical indication of a prescription, so there may be instances where these drugs are used for other conditions.

Respite Care: Carers

Baroness Pitkeathley: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to theirPeople at the Heart of Care:adult social care reform white paper, published on 1 December 2021, what progress they have made on their delivery of the £25 million fund in support of unpaid carers.

Lord Markham: The Government is finalising its plans for how we will deliver up to an additional £25 million that we committed to in People at the Heart of Care to support unpaid carers and hopes to share plans shortly.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Israel: Palestinians

The Lord Bishop of Southwark: To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made tothe government of Israel in relation to the use of force in the death of Mr Ameed al-Jaghoub on 21 August.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Our sympathies are with Ameed al-Jaghoub and his family. While we have not discussed this specific incident with the Israeli Government, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces in the West Bank and Gaza is too high. In our dialogue with the Israeli authorities, whilst we have recognised their legitimate need to deploy security measures to address violence, we remind them that such deployments are done to minimise tension and use appropriate force. When there have been accusations of excessive use of force, we have advocated swift, transparent investigations. Israel must abide by its obligations under international law, and we have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation. As the occupying power, we urge Israel to fulfil its responsibilities, including ensuring the protection of the civilian population. I, (Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon), made this clear most recently in a meeting with the Israeli chargé d'affaires on July 4.

UN General Assembly

Earl Russell: To ask His Majesty's Government on what grounds the Prime Minister has decided not to attend the UN General Assembly this month.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government delegation to the UN General Assembly High Level Week on 18-22 September will be led by the Deputy Prime Minister, accompanied by the Foreign Secretary, myself Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon as Minister of State for the UN, Minister Mitchell as Minister for Development and Minister Stuart as Minister for Net Zero. Building on the significant announcements made by the PM at the G20 in New Delhi, the UK delegation will show how these, and other UK priorities can be advanced through multilateralism as we work alongside a wide range of countries, ahead of major Artificial Intelligence and food security summits in the UK later this year.

Africa: Climate Change

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what financial support they are providing to countries in Africa to help combat climate change on that continent.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK is working closely with African partners to fight climate change, boost resilience and help those whose lives are most impacted. The UK supports initiatives, such as contributing towards the African Development Bank's Climate Action Window (£200 million) and South Africa's Just Energy Transition ($1.8 billion). At the Africa Climate Summit (4-6 September) the Minister for Climate and the Environment, The Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP, reaffirmed the Government's commitment to spend £11.6 billion on international climate finance, with approximately 40 per cent of this being spent on Africa. Minister Mitchell also announced projects worth £49 million to help African countries manage the impact of climate change and improve the lives of women, farmers and at-risk communities.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

District Heating

Lord Whitty: To ask His Majesty's Government which technologies are most appropriate for gas-based District Heating Schemes (DHS) to adopt in order to contribute to national decarbonisation targets; what estimate they have made of the approximate cost of the transition by DHS to low-carbon heat; and what methods of financing could be used to support this transition.

Lord Callanan: Heat networks can use a variety of low-carbon heat sources, for example large heat pumps, industrial waste heat and geothermal. No one solution will be appropriate for every DHS - a mix of technologies will support heat decarbonisation.  Whilst the capital cost of many of these low-carbon sources is higher than gas combustion technologies there are a range of private financing options. The Government has itself invested £288m in the decarbonisation of heat networks through the Green Heat Network Fund.  Longer term the Government intends to introduce Heat Networks Zoning by 2025 to further grow the number of low-carbon heat networks across England and in ‘Powering Up Britain’ the Government committed to outlining a clear approach to price rebalancing by the end of 2024, to lower the running costs of these lower-carbon technologies.

Department for Business and Trade

World Expo: Osaka

Lord McNicol of West Kilbride: To ask His Majesty's Government how much they estimate will be spent by each department on organising the UK pavilion at Osaka Expo 2025; and how much funding they estimate will be provided by (1) UK businesses, and (2) other organisations, to support the organisation of the UK pavilion at Osaka Expo 2025.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: The Department for Business and Trade is organising the UK Pavilion at Osaka Expo 2025 on behalf of His Majesty's Government. The Department's estimated total budget for delivering the UK's presence is £58.39m. This is funded from contributions from existing budgets.Significant additional funding is being sought from the private sector to offset costs to the taxpayer. This work is in train - it is not therefore possible to accurately estimate private sector funding levels at this point.

World Expo: Osaka

Lord McNicol of West Kilbride: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the staffing costs for the UK pavilion at the Osaka Expo 2025.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: Requirements for staffing the UK pavilion are still being scoped and therefore estimated costs are not currently known.

World Expo: Osaka

Lord McNicol of West Kilbride: To ask His Majesty's Government when construction of the UK pavilion for the Osaka Expo 2025 will(1) commence, and (2) be completed.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: Construction for the UK pavilion in Osaka will commence in early 2024. Construction will be completed ahead of the Expo opening on 13 April 2025.

World Expo: Osaka

Lord McNicol of West Kilbride: To ask His Majesty's Government how many businesses they expect to participate in the UK pavilion at the Osaka Expo 2025.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: UK Government will be working with as many British businesses as possible to showcase the UK across Japan and the Asia Pacific region, as well as promote foreign direct investment in the UK. This work is on-going; the total number of businesses that will be involved is not yet confirmed.